David is a
great man and has been a great Prime Minister. I am genuinely very upset that
he will not be our country’s leader going forward. His departure is only just
beginning to sink in and I think many will come to miss his pragmatic leadership.
No one in the House of Commons doubts that he is a decent man, who has done an
almost impossible job incredibly well. He has practiced the fiscal robustness
and social liberalism that I wholeheartedly endorse. Under his watch, we have
recovered from a recession: we have more jobs, apprenticeships and new
businesses than our competitors, and generally have slowly turned this country
around. He has reformed welfare, schooling and apprenticeships, but also
addressed social justice in so many ways: as he put it when he spoke in the
Commons on Monday, he is very proud of-
“keeping our
promises to the poorest people in the world, increasing people's life chances,
building a bigger and stronger society, and enabling those who love each other
to get married whatever their sexuality.”
In an abnormal
world, he is a PM that remains very normal, and very human. He is a family man
and has real empathy. I cannot tell you how many Labour MPs have made clear
their individual sadness at his departure. Whatever your politics, in the House
of Commons we all get behind our Prime Minister.
I serve in the
government Whips Office and, until his departure, I continue to serve the PM; I
will also get behind and support 110% whoever is our new Prime Minister.
A
decision has been made
I fought very
hard to get the country to Remain in the EU, both in Hexham, and the wider the
North. But the country decided differently, and by a decisive margin. I
respect that decision and do not support a re-run. You cannot pick and choose
your democratic decisions on the basis of whether you won or lost. But, as a
result, we need to make momentous decisions in parliament about the way ahead
for Great Britain’s future in the world.
The PM has put
his approach to this dilemma in detail, as set out on my blog here:http://guyopperman.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/yesterday-pm-came-to-parliament-and.html
I myself saw
the issue of immigration as a key driver of why the campaign to Remain failed
in the North East of England. And the PM addressed that on Monday, when he
said:
"As
I have said, I think that one of the most difficult decisions for a future
Government will be how to balance access to the single market—the best we can
get—with decisions about immigration. I do not know what exact answer can be
found. The answer I found was welfare reform, which was bold and brave because
it meant reducing welfare payments to newly arrived migrants. Those changes
will now not go ahead, so that extra draw will continue for the next couple of
years, but we have to find an answer to that problem. In a way, that is the
puzzle we have now been set by the British people, which is, “We want access to
the single market and we recognise the economic argument, but you’ve got to do
better when it comes to immigration.”
But the PM has
set out his intention to go, so we must look to the future.
I stress that I
have not decided who to support, but it is right that I set out my views in
outline, along with the issues I will be raising in the next week or so.
Selection
procedure
Candidates must
now put their names forward to Conservative MPs and they will be gradually
whittled down over the next ten days to just two. The final decision then rests
with Conservative Party members to choose a new leader by 9th September.
A
strong field of experienced candidates
At this point
we do not know who are going to be official candidates, but my understanding is
that the following are likely to put their names into the ring when nominations
close this Thursday; in alphabetical order:
John Baron,
Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Nicky Morgan.
There may yet be others, but not that I am aware of.
All the
candidates I know well, some of who I have worked with closely.
At this point I
think it is fair to say the main contenders are Theresa May, Stephen Crabb and
Boris Johnson. I think it is a very positive reflection on our party that we
have such strong candidates.
Theresa
May
is the longest serving Home Secretary in 100 years. I worked for her as a PPS in
the Home Office from 2012-2015. She has done a very tough job as Home Secretary
very well. No one works harder, and no one is more dedicated. She is,
unquestionably, a serious politician. When I became seriously ill in 2011 she
was unbelievably kind to me, and she was a delight to work for, albeit a hard
taskmaster. In addition, I worked with her at length as Chairman of Women2Win
from 2013-2015, an organisation that Theresa can be proud to have founded.
Dr
Sarah Wollaston MP wrote of her support for Theresa here:http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/mp-backs-theresa-may-to-take-over-from-david-cameron/story-29452128-detail/story.html
Stephen
Crabb is the recently appointed Secretary of
State for Work and Pensions; having arrived into parliament in 2005. Stephen
was formerly the Secretary of State for Wales. I have also worked with him, as
the DWP whip these last few months. He is clearly very able, and is a
thoughtful, intelligent man. He also talks a language, and has a background and
empathy, that both really matter right now, and will need to be addressed over
the long years ahead.
Maria
Caulfield MP wrote a piece in support of Stephen here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/29/why-my-fellow-brexiteers-should-want-stephen-crabb-as-britains-n
Boris
Johnson is the former two-time Mayor of
London. He returned to parliament in May 2015. As Mayor, he was a real
moderniser and did a good job running one of the most important and complex capital
cities in the world. I campaigned with him extensively on support for the
Living Wage from 2012-2015, and there is no doubt that our efforts eventually saw
a change in government policy. He clearly has an ability to connect with
voters in a way few other politicians can.
Nick
Boles MP wrote a piece in support of Boris here: http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2016/06/nick-boles-im-a-moderniser-i-backed-remain-and-heres-why-i-believe-johnson-should-be-the-next-conservative-leader.html
The
big issues ahead
Whoever is our
next Prime Minister, they have a number of fundamental challenges to tackle:
- They have to articulate what Brexit looks like? Crucially, they are going to have to spell out their approach to the single market and future immigration control. Does this mean qualified or full access to the single market? This is the key issue identified by Lord William Hague in his recent article this week: what is the relationship with Europe we are now aiming for?
As
William puts it: “It will be difficult to
cut any new advantageous deal with the EU, but if we don’t know what we want it
will be totally impossible. Are we open to joining the European Economic Area,
along with Norway and Iceland, which would mean ditching the commitment to
control immigration – or are we putting migration controls first, and taking the
economic consequences of that? The time for avoiding this question is over.”
- They are going to have to bring our country together given that the voting majority voted out, but there are 48 per cent who voted remain.
- And finally, notwithstanding the pre-existing Conservative Party manifesto, what are going to be their wider priorities for the country moving forward?
As I said at
the beginning, I must stress that I have not decided who I will support, and I
will be seeking answers to these questions from all candidates. It will then be
for members to decide on who is the right man or woman, to lead the
Conservative Party as the next Prime Minister.
